North Korean leader Kim Jong-un led a military parade in the capital that featured the latest technology from a nuclear arsenal whose growth has heightened tensions with neighbors and the United States.
Photos of the huge parade released on Thursday by North Korean state media show Kim, his wife Ri Sol-ju and their daughter Kim Joo-ae, aged nine or 10. From the balcony, the leader smiled as the thousands of troops of Kim Il Sung, grandfather, first leader (1948-1994) and founder of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, the country’s official name, lined up in the brightly lit square.
Wednesday’s evening parade marking the 75th anniversary of the founding of North Korea’s army came after weeks of preparations, with large numbers of military personnel and civilians deployed to mark the country’s status as a nuclear power.